Dubbed as a mistress of an exemplary Mozartian style, American soprano Renee Fleming will present the first performance of her Asian tour in Chinese mainland at Shanghai Grand Theater on Wednesday night.

Shanghai-based News Times reported that one day before her debut, the soprano visited the Shanghai Conservatory of Music to give some advice to four opera performance students.

Fleming said a beautiful voice is not the ultimate goal on stage. The highest level of singing rests on performances, not voice. Though frequently touted as the most beautiful voice of the United States, the opera diva did not attach much importance to singing skills like pronunciation, voice and breath. She mandated the students express the story of the opera piece while singing.

Fleming told News Times that young singers nowadays put too much attention to singing itself without comprehending the original writer's intent. She stressed that singers should express the internal sensation of the opera.

For her first Asian tour, Fleming has not taken the one-program-fits-all approach like other pop opera artists. Instead, she has different programs for each city.

She performed an all-Strauss program in Hong Kong on April 2, including the German composer's haunting post-World War II work Four Last Songs, and other lieder.

In Taipei, the first city on the tour in which she performed with a full orchestra, it was Strauss, Rossini, Bizet and the crowd-pleasing O Mio Babbino Caro by Puccini.

Fleming will have her next performance in Beijing at Forbidden City Concert Hall on Saturday, collaborating with the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

(CRI.cn April 5, 2007)